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Massachusetts: ‘Show I.D. to Vote’ sign was illegal

10/20/11 01:48 PMUpdated 04/07/14 02:38 PM

Last week on the show, we brought you the story of the Massachusetts conservatives who’d set up shop in a polling place with a sign saying “Show I.D. to Vote.” Massachusetts doesn’t require you to show I.D. at the polls. “Show I.D. to Vote” is the name of the conservatives’ group, which would like to make it harder to vote.

[Elections Commission Chair] Maria Tomasia said she will go back to requiring a letter from the Secretary of State for all election observers. She said she didn’t know about the “Show ID to Vote” signs until she arrived at the Parker Street precinct at 4 p.m., but acknowledged that she herself didn’t ask the dynamic duo to take it down.

She said Secretary of State William Galvin’s office has now informed her that the “Show ID to Vote” sign was illegal. The secretary’s office says it is taking “remedial” steps to make sure the group never displays a similar sign inside a precinct.

Producer Mike Yarvitz just got off the phone with the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office. They say they’ll be taking steps to keep this from happening again at municipal elections next month. Those steps include reminding the local elections commission about statutes that prohibit electioneering at the polls, specifically by election observers. Mike asked whether they’d refer what they described as an “illegal” act for possible prosecution, the office had no comment.